


In the Pilot Seat

by ao_no_senshi



Category: Kamen Rider Fourze
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-04
Updated: 2012-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-30 14:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/332666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ao_no_senshi/pseuds/ao_no_senshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With everyone else occupied there's only one person left to use Power Dizer and he's not happy about it. When certain people are in trouble, however, there's not much of a choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Pilot Seat

The door to the Rabbit Hatch hissed open and JK looked up from the strings of his guitar in surprise. He hadn't expected anyone else to come here today. Gentarou and the others had already gone off somewhere and he'd decided to pass on joining in this time. Which didn't explain how he'd ended up at the Rabbit Hatch anyway but whatever. He was here now and not ready to go home yet, might as well just kick back and chill for a while.

Nozama stared at him from the doorway. "You're here late," she said eventually as she stepped into the room and he shrugged.

"You're here as well," he pointed out. "Don't see me commenting on that, do you?"

It was her turn to shrug as she made her way over to the table in the centre of the room. She didn't seem to want to talk which was fine with him because neither did he. There was a reason he'd been here by himself, after all.

Alarms shattered the easy quiet of the room and he looked over at the screen in surprise, Nozama scrambling out of her chair and over to the console.

"Zodiart," she murmured, fingers flying over the controls. "At the football field."

"Call Gentarou," he suggested, watching the screen intently, gut clenching at the sight of Daimonji-senpai throwing himself in the way of the Zodiart stalking across the field. "He can take it out, right?"

"He's busy," Nozama replied, shaking her head. "He and the others are dealing with another Zodiart."

"There's _two?_ " he demanded, looking between her and the screen. "That should be against the rules! No sending two different Zodiarts to two places... what are you doing?"

"Calling Power Dizer for you."

" _What?_ " he yelped, voice rising, backing away from the console, hands waving frantically in denial. "No. No no no no. I don't do fighting, Nozama, that's not my thing. I'm the information guy, remember? I can't pilot that thing." He was the go-to guy for information: no matter what you wanted to find out he could do it and he was proud of that. He'd never wanted to get more physically involved in this than he was.

Nozama turned her head and _glared_ and he felt his resolve wavering. He glanced back at the screen in time to see Daimonji-senpai tackle the Zodiart and then get flung back. "Alright," he sighed huffily, the last of his resistance crumbling. "Alright, fine. But just this once, okay?"

***

The Zodiart wasn't after him. That was both a surprise and a relief for Shun as he was well aware of how unpleasant he'd been before. He'd been trying to make amends since but there was always the chance he'd missed someone: Miura wasn't the only person he'd demoralised or alienated over the years, after all.

He placed himself squarely between his fleeing team and the Zodiart, backing up slowly as the zodiart stalked forward. "Who are you here for?" Maybe if he knew that he could figure out who he was dealing with. He didn't have any way of calling the Power Dizer or Gentarou to come and fight the guy; all he could do was stall and get as much information as he could.

"None of your business," the Zodiart hissed, the chains wrapped around its arms clinking as it moved. Shun didn't recognise the constellation the Zodiart represented but he was surprised to see chains making a reappearance as a feature. "And you're in my way."

"And that's where I'm going to stay," he promised grimly. He had to buy time: for his team to get away, for Gentarou to find out what was going on and bring out Fourze, to try and figure out who he was dealing with. Unfortunately, the Zodiart didn't seem too inclined to let him do that, lashing out with one of its chains, the metal whistling towards his head. He ducked out of the way, dropping into a roll before coming back to his feet and launching himself forward in a tackle.

The tackle should at least have knocked the Zodiart backwards - he knew his strength and could control it with ease - but even his strongest tackle failed to so much as budge it and in the end he was the one who was sent flying backwards. He got back to his feet, ignoring the aches, only to get a metal chain whipping across his stomach and sending him back down, air solidly knocked out of him as he curled up in on himself in an attempt to minimise the pain.

 _Ow,_ he thought distantly. That _hurt_. He was going to have bruises there by evening, no doubt about that. He forced himself to roll onto his front, using the ground to push himself back up until the Zodiart's feet appeared in his field of vision and he looked up slowly into the unmoving face as the Zodiart raised its arm again. He was so screwed.

The ground shook and he collapsed back down to the ground as the Zodiart staggered back, looking up just in time to see Power Dizer snatching the Zodiart up and tossing it away from him. Shun blinked in non-comprehension. Who was operating Power Dizer? Surely not Kengo. Miu maybe? She'd used it before after all, it was entirely possible she'd try it again if there was no-one else around.

Chains whistled through the air, wrapping around Power Dizer's arms. Whoever was piloting, however, yanked the arms upwards, dragging the Zodiart into the air and shaking it until the Zodiart retracted the chains in self-defence, dropping back to the ground in a crouch.

"I got it from here!" Gentarou shouted behind him, sprinting past in the Fourze suit, already flipping the Scissors Switch. Power Dizer's pilot swatted the Zodiart in Gentarou's direction and backed off.

"Who's in Power Dizer?" Kengo asked and Shun turned to find him setting up his equipment, no doubt scanning the Zodiart for weak points. Well, it obviously wasn't him, then. And not Miu either as she was watching the screen over Kengo's shoulder, the pair of them muttering something about Andromeda or something like that. So if it wasn't either of them, who was it?

"I don't know," he replied uneasily. An ominous clanking sound caught his attention and his head snapped around in time to see Power Dizer listing to its side before falling over completely. He broke into a run, skidding to a halt beside the machine as it hissed open. His gut clenched tightly as a familiar blond head came into view as the pilot clambered out. "JK," he breathed. He'd never even considered JK a possible pilot for Power Dizer and he had to firmly remind himself that JK had done okay before panic could insist too loudly that he should never, ever have put himself in that position.

JK slid to the floor and gave Shun a jaunty salute that Shun recognised as one of his own mannerisms and he shook his head in rueful resignation. "And that's how you operate Power Dizer JK-style," JK grinned. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Before Shun could reply, however, JK's legs gave way and he lunged forward to catch him, save him smashing his head off the ground. JK collapsed against his shoulder instead, out cold, and even a gentle pat against the side of his face didn't provoke any reaction. He sat down slowly, JK sprawled across his lap, taking care not to jostle him too much.

"JK?" he heard Kengo say incredulously in the background and he felt his eyebrows drawing together in annoyance. If Kengo could do it with his condition, then JK could do it, too. There was no reason for that disbelief.

"There was no-one else," Nozama replied quietly. "You were all busy and we couldn't wait."

"He'll be okay," Miu said, closer than any of the others and he started in surprise to find her crouching next him. "It just takes it out of you more than you expect."

"I know." Extended use left even him tired and he had the power and stamina of an athlete in a physical sport. If even Miu's stamina as a cheerleader and dancer wasn't enough to handle the drain of Power Dizer then someone who wasn't as physical as either of them would struggle with it more. Overall, though, he was confident that JK would be fine; he'd just be out for a while.

"Ah, he got away!" Gentarou lamented in the background. "He sure runs fast, I'll give him that."

"Looks like we've got work to do," Miu agreed, standing up and heading back to where the others were standing. "And we'll have to do without JK's network for now."

"JK? Why?"

Shun tuned them out as he carefully got to his feet, JK's head bumping against his shoulder.

"Here, Shun, let me help!" Gentarou was there before he could turn around, reaching to get an arm around JK and he tightened his grip automatically.

"I don't need help," he retorted, moving away from Gentarou's hands. "I got it."

"But I--"

"I said I've got it," he repeated, raising his voice and getting everyone staring at him in surprise. He stared back, refusing to budge or be embarrassed. The Rabbit Hatch wasn't far and even if it was that didn't matter: he'd carry JK as far as he had to.

"Alright," Kengo said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "There's not much more we can do today anyway. We'll see to JK and call it day, start again tomorrow."

"Burgermeal's tracking the Zodiart anyway," Yuki added. "That should give us something to work with as well."

"Then that's all we can do for now," Miu agreed. "Let's get moving, people. We don't have all evening."

Fortunately for Shun's peace of mind it didn't take too long for JK to wake up, but when he did all the things Shun had meant to say - demands to know what JK had been thinking, admonishments not to do it again and so on - failed him completely and he pulled JK into a headlock instead, ruffling his hair to the sound of indignant protests and flailing swats at his arms before letting go.

"Thank you," he said as he did so. "You really helped me out back there."

"Couldn't let you get flattened," JK replied lightly as he pointedly fixed his hair. "Don't worry, though: Power Dizer's all yours. I'm not doing that again in a hurry."

Again words failed him and JK breezed out the door, all smiles and saying the right things, before Shun - or anyone else, even - could tell him he didn't need to pretend he was fine if he wasn't. Shun sighed and followed him out, if for no other reason than his clothes were still in the locker room and he needed to change before going home, but his hopes of catching JK along the way were immediately dashed. JK was nowhere to be seen and he had no idea where to even start looking.

Tomorrow, he promised himself. He'd talk to him tomorrow.


End file.
